The Way They Were
by QueenofQuill
Summary: Despite what he saw in Snape's memory he loved seeing his father and other Marauders in happy times so now that he is living in happy himself times he decides to take a closer look at those old days.
1. Prologue

Harry walked slowly towards number 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius had left it to him but he hadn't gone back since the end of the war. He was afraid of what he would feel when he got there but he just couldn't bring himself to sell the place. However; now that James had gone to Hogwarts he realised that it wasn't just his kids that were growing up. He was a grown man and he needed to face the past no matter what it did to him otherwise he would never be able to move forward.

Walking in the door he realised that over the years it had gathered more dust than he thought possible, he could barely see where he was going but he made do.

The best place to start was in Sirius' room. Since he godfather wasn't overly fond of his parents he would have kept everything that was important to him in his bedroom. Harry opened the window to let in some fresh air and then proceeded to move as much dust as he could. The spell he used didn't do a great job but at least he could see what he was looking at now. The first thing he saw was a picture of the maurauders sitting on the bedside table. Harry picked it up and smiled. All four of them looked so happy and Remus looked as close to healthy as Harry had ever seen him. Harry guessed this was taken around their 6th year. The bedside table had a drawer and a cuboard, Harry looked in the drawer first and found a large faded red photo album. The first picutre was one of James and Lily with him as a baby snuggled in his mother's arms. The dark haired man stared at that picture for quite a while. It looked spookily like one Ron had taken of him and Ginny shortly after they had James.

He turned the page and saw his father with his arm around Sirius, they were obviously gesturing to the camera man in a silly manner which led Harry to believe it was probably Remus or Peter, either way it made him smile to see such simple happiness. The next picture was one of the four marauders under the beech tree at Hogwarts, he remember Sirius telling him that they claimed it as theirs in there first year. Sirius was hanging upside down on one of the lower branches, Peter was sitting underneath him, James was trying to get Remus' attention who was obviously ignoring his childish antics in favour of reading. Harry chuckled, Remus was probably the only person who had enough paitence to deal with his father and Sirius god knows he wouldn't have.

Harry turned the page of the album again and the next picture was one of Remus and Sirius in his dog form. He was jumping on Remus who was chuckling heartily and trying to get the huge playful mutt off him.

Seeing all these happy memories made Harry wonder why he hadn't come here much sooner.

In the corner of the room Harry noticed a very familiar object, it was something that hadn't terrified and facinated him. A pensieve was something Harry tended to steer clear of these days but they had been a huge source of information but the kind of things he might see kept him from getting too curious. However seeing a pensieve that quite obviously belonged to Sirius Harry decided that he may as well have a look as long as he managed to bypass the years in Azkaban.


	2. Beginnings

Harry recognised Platform 9 and 3/4 as soon as he saw it. He had stood on it enough times but it still made him gape a little like he was eleven years old again. Speaking of which it didn't take him much time to spot his eleven year old father, it was like looking at his younger self. He smiled as he saw a woman who was obviously his grandmother, kissing and hugging James like he was the most precious thing in the world. The man standing behind her had his arms folded and he huffed but he had a smile on his face. The man ruffled James' hair and then pushed him towards the train.

Harry quickly scanned the platform looking for Sirius, this was his memory after all. He didn't see him so he guessed that the boy must have got on the train while Harry was watching his father.

Before Harry knew it he was on the Hogwarts express, he spotted Sirius right away. He was hard to miss especially with that haughty expression on his face. Sparing his godfather a quick, affectionate smile he started looking once again for James; he didn't see him.

Sirius walked the length of the train looking for a compartment but they were all either full or nearly full of girls. No way was Sirius sitting with a bunch of girls. The young black haired boy obviously wasn't looking where he was going so Harry almost called out to him when he bumped into someone. "Sorry mate," said Sirius helping the other student with his bag.

"It's alright." Harry looked closer to see who had replied and found it to have been his father. This must have been when he and Sirius met. This was going to be interesting. "My name's James Potter."

"Sirius Black," he replied and they shook hands.

"Can't find a compartment either huh," asked the bespectacled boy.

Sirius shook his head, "No, unless I want to sit with girls I'm stuck and let me tell you I would much rather sit in the hallway."

James chuckled and so did Harry. "Come on let's keep looking. There's got to be one they haven't claimed."

The two fast friends continued to walk the length of the train until the heard someone grunt and came face to face with a tall white haired third year and couple of his friends standing over a frightened looking plump, blond haired boy whom Harry recognised immediately as Peter Pettigrew.

"Hey," James called out when he saw what was happening. "Three against one that's not very fair."

The white haired boy chuckled, "And whose going to even the odds? Two little first years like you."

"Damned right," chimed in Sirius. "If you cowards aren't man enough to play fair then we are just going to have to teach you a lesson."

The three third years laughed heartily at the threat and Harry watched Peter pick himself up and move to stand slightly behind his father and Sirius. The former shoved his hand into his cloak and Harry thought he was going to draw his wand but surprisingly he took out a handful of small, grey balls and threw them at the third years. A cloud of smoke erupted when the balls connected and the three older boys yelped and rubbed there eyes. James grabbed Sirius' arm and together they and Peter ran past the currently occupied third years laughing to themselves.

Once they were free and clear Sirius asked, "Where did you get those from?"

"My dad was a real prankster at school. They were his signature weapon. You can't even buy those anymore, 'too dangerous' the ministry said. If you want them you have to make them."

"Well cool mate. You're gonna have to show me one day."

"Thanks you two. It could have got really nasty back there."

"Naa," Sirius said. "There just a bunch of wesley little cowards who don't know how to pick on someone there own size. The white haired one was one of the Malfoys, my family has been friends with them for ages. There all just like him."

"What family are you from?"

"The Blacks. They're not much better."

"The Blacks," Peter exclaimed looking like he didn't know whether to bow low at the waist or run for the hills.

"But you seem ok," said James.

"Yeah, I guess I have just never got on with my family. My brother's alright but he worries too much about what our parents think so we don't talk so much these days."

Harry watched as the three new friends talked and walked looking for a carriage. It was mostly just James and Sirius asking each other questions and Peter listening. They included him in the conversation but they were obviously more interested in each other than they were in him. After a short while James looked in the window of a compartment with only one occupant. "Think he'll mind," asked Peter.

"Who cares," replied Sirius pushing his way past his two friends and sitting across from the sleeping boy Harry instantly knew was Remus Lupin.

James rolled his eyes but followed Sirius anyway. Harry scanned the compartment, they didn't change even after decades. He then looked at Remus who was in a spookily similar position to the one he was in when he, Ron and Hermione had first met him on this very same train. His head was resting against the window and his robes were thrown over his shoulder. Harry spared him an affection smile, he looked exhausted.

Sirius reached over and grabbed the book Remus had loosely in his grasp. Harry frowned at Sirius but the frown subsided when Remus didn't stir. "Bloody hell," exclaimed Sirius. Remus should have woken up with the volume but again he didn't move. "What is he doing with this? He doesn't have a badge on his robes so he must be a first year like us. How did he get his hands on this book?"

Harry peaked at the title it was 'Defence Against the Dark Arts: Third year' obviously an old version. He smiled; Professor Lupin was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher his year had ever had. It only made sense that he should have started early. After a while Remus' eye fluttered open and immediately Sirius launched in.

"Hey mate, what are you doing with a book like that?"

James smiled apologetically at the obviously exhausted boy. His face was so gaunt you would think he had just woken up from the grave. Harry guessed that the full moon was coming or had probably just been. "Sorry about him. I'm James Potter by the way. The loud mouth here is Sirius Black and this is Peter Pettigrew."

Remus gave a tired smile, "Pleased to meet you. Remus Lupin," he said as he sat up.

"Yeah yeah good to meet you," said Sirius impatiently. "Now tell us mate how in the hell did you get your hands on such an advanced book? I mean you're a first year like us, right?"

Remus gave a small chuckle and said, "Yes that's right. Defence Against the Dark Arts has always been my favourite subject and I suppose I'm pretty good at it."

"Pretty good," exclaimed James. "You're reading third year stuff."

Remus chuckled again. "It's one of my dads old books but don't be fooled I'm not that advanced. I have read every defence book I can get my hands on but I haven't got much of a chance to practice. Sometimes my dad let me have a go at some spells with his wand but that was only every once and a while."

"That is so cool," said James in the same excited voice. "Do you think you could teach us some?"

Harry's face broke into a huge grin and he looked towards Remus again. The pace faced boy looked slightly shocked at the obvious attempt the boys in front of him were making at friendship but then a small smile graced his lips and he said, "Sure I'd love to."

"So," said Sirius conversationally, becoming more relaxed. "What house do you want to be in?"

"I don't mind. My father was in Ravenclaw."

"Aww that's a shame," said James, "me and Sirius are going to be in Griffindor."

"Oh you seem very sure of that," said Remus grinning.

"I am. With any luck you'll be more than just a clever clogs and you'll be in Griffindor too."

"You never know."

Harry watched as the four boys spent the rest of the train journey talking and finding out about each other. Harry himself found out an awful lot about his father and his friends and he thought that maybe these memories weren't going to be so bad after all.


	3. Pranking

The next memory Harry encountered was one that reminded him of just how right Serverus Snape was when he talked about Sirius and his father. What he saw were a collection of pranks that James and Sirius performed on many people. Peter was often a target and he often pleaded with them for mercy but no quarter was given. Other people were targeted too and Sirius and James quickly became famous or rather _infamous_ for their talents in the area of pranking.

After about the ninth prank Harry noticed that Remus was never around when these pranks were taking place which made Harry wonder ... 'Was he avoiding his friends?'

Harry managed to keep his temper in check through most of the pranks but the tenth one he saw was the last straw. It was quite a sunny afternoon and classes had just finished. James and Sirius were just walking down the corridor together laughing with each other and Peter.

Harry noticed that Remus was walking the other direction hugging his books to his chest and looking rather ill. Despite the sun it was quite cold and the moon was starting to show faintly already seeing as it was round about October. Harry could tell the full moon was most likely only a day or two away and Remus probably just wanted to be on his own right now.

Sirius and James had other plans though; they whispered to each other and then shared a quick giggle. Peter whispered, "What? What? What?"

They whispered their plan to him and he giggled too. Harry couldn't hear what they were saying but he didn't like the way it sounded.

The two pranksters pulled their wands out of their cloaks and pointed them at Remus, the pronounced an incantation Harry didn't recognise and before he knew it Remus had dropped his books as his arms shot into the air. His limbs began to act as if they were attached to strings.

A rather large crowd had gathered in the hallway and they were laughing. Remus however didn't seem to notice, he looked rather terrified like he was reliving something horrible where his body wasn't his own. Harry looked at his father and Sirius, they didn't seem to notice. He wanted to call out to them to stop but he knew it would do no good.

After a while Remus closed his eyes and it looked like he was trying to tune out what was happening. Sirius and James were quick to notice that their victim wasn't doing anything and looked at him properly for the first time. Harry didn't know what they saw but they obviously didn't like it as they dropped the spell immediately.

That was a mistake because Remus wasn't in a state of awareness great enough to catch himself so he fell and his head hit the hard stone floor. Harry winced but Remus didn't make a sound. Neither did the gathered crowd, suddenly the joke wasn't so funny.

With a dignity that Harry had always admired him for, Remus picked himself up off the floor, gathered the books he had dropped and held his bleeding head. He looked at James and Sirius who averted their eyes immediately. The pale boy then turned and continued walking as if nothing had occurred.

As far as Harry could tell there had been relative silence between the friends for the rest of the day, Sirius and James just couldn't seem to get that ashamed look off their faces. 'Quite rightly too,' Harry thought.

In the common room that night Peter played exploding snap with James while Sirius watched but they didn't seem to be enjoying themselves. They went up to their dormitory rather early where they found Remus sitting on his bed, reading one of his father's old books. He didn't even look up as they came in. He didn't even seem angry, in fact Harry couldn't remember a time when he saw Remus truly angry. He had seen him disappointed before and that was probably worse.

If Remus had yelled at them or even looked remotely angry them they would have probably known better how to deal with the situation. The dorm was silent for a couple of minutes and then Sirius and James launched into an apology and a very sincere one at that. Harry remembered Sirius telling him that Remus was the only one able to make him and James feel ashamed of themselves sometimes. Harry knew his father and his godfather to be people who didn't care much about what others thought of them but it seemed that Remus having such a low opinion of them wasn't something they were willing to live with.

The boy in question just smiled gently and said, "No harm done," and returned to his book.

Everyone in that room including Harry knew that was a lie but it was one they were willing to live with.


	4. Defense

The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom wasn't much different from when Harry sat in it. He remembered very clearly all the teachers he had for this subject but the year he remembered most fondly was his third year which is when Professor Lupin taught him and his classmates. Out of all the very different teachers he had in this class Remus was definitely the best ... by far. Harry was reminded of that when he was introduced to a memory of the not yet named marauders in their first year defense class.

The professor wasn't at all what he expected. First of all she was female, not that he thought women didn't have talent for defense, if Hermione was any indication then he should never think that but he had only ever had one female defense teacher and that was Umbridge and she was abysmal. However this teacher seemed to be nothing of the sort. She was interesting and witty and very clever, the class seemed to love her. To get her point across in lessons she would usually launch in stories about her days as an Auror.

Harry was rather stunned, he didn't think this tiny woman in her late thirties could possibly be as celebrated an Auror as she claimed but she had the awards and newspaper clippings on the wall to prove it. She wasn't much taller than a first year and even though she was still relatively young she was tired of fighting and wanted a quiet job. The class seemed to love her stories and always paid attention.

One person though who stood out in that class was Remus. He knew more about the subject than most fourth years did. Of course he couldn't do nearly as many defensive spells as they could but Harry guessed it wouldn't take him long to master them.

"Alright," said the Professor at the start of the lesson. "Yesterday I was telling you about the time my partner and I got stuck in the forest. I got to the part where we faced down a boggart but that's a little too advanced for you." She paused. "Oh what the hell, can anyone in here tell me what a boggart is. You won't encounter them in this classroom for a couple of years but for the rest of my story to make sense I have to get through this part. So ... anyone?"

Harry looked around the classroom, everyone was looking rather confused. Then Harry's eyes found Remus who was slowly and hesitantly raising his hand.

Everyone looked surprised, even James, Sirius and Peter. The Professor looked even more surprised. "Mr Lupin," she said indicating that he should speak.

"A shape shifter professor," he said modestly, obviously not wanting to show off.

"Correct," replied the small woman with a big, proud smile on her face. "You look like you want to say something more Mr Lupin. Come now don't be shy," she said as she could tell Remus was only trying not to be a show off.

"Sorry Professor Pendragon," Remus started, with his head point towards the desk he was sitting at beside Peter. "Boggarts only take the shape of whatever creature they are faced with fears the most."

Professor Pendragon smiled again, "And are you able to tell me what my partner and I did next?"

Remus hesitated again feeling many eyes on him and desperately not wanting to look like a show off. "You cast the riddikulus charm on it."

"Brilliant Mr Lupin, 20 points to Griffindor," most of the looks from the Griffindors faded from resentment for showing them up to gratitude for getting them a nice handful of points.

Harry smiled as James reached over his desk to clap Remus on the back. "Nice work mate."

The professor discreetly asked to see Remus after class not wanting to embarrass him further. Harry looked at Pendragon and thought that aside from Lupin she was the defense professor he would have liked to have had in school. Her long straw coloured her that reached past her hips was always tied up in a high pony tail giving view to a tough but very kind face. She obviously had a genuine love for children and that is probably why she left her job as an Auror earlier than was necessary.

Harry was glad that when his parents and their friends were at school that they had a role model like her. Harry wondered where she was when he was at school, what did she do when she left Hogwarts? She might even still be alive for all he knew, though he doubted it.

Harry enjoyed looking at the memories that reminded him of what a good teacher Remus was, helping Peter with his homework was one of them. Sirius and James tried but they gave up after a very short time of trying. Remus however patiently explained things in a way he thought his friend would understand and the plump boy always shot him a grateful smile when he got back a decent grade on his homework.

Another instance was when the four friends were all sitting in the study hall with their books. Sirius and James weren't studying though. Peter tried to at first but he got sucked into the two black haired boys' foolery. Remus withstood their efforts for a while but he was getting worn down. Still he was saved by a pretty red haired girl tapping him on the shoulder and saying, "Remus, I'm having some trouble with Defense. You're top of the class, could you could come and help me."

"Uh...," Remus hesitated but then she shot him a winning smile and he said, "Ok I guess. I'll catch up with you three later."

He closed his book and walked over to where Lily was sitting with a greasy haired boy, the realization that it was Snape was instantaneous. He gave Lupin a small glare as he walked over and sat beside Lily but then went back to what he was working on. "So," said Remus in amusingly businesslike way. "Tell what you are having problems with."

Lily giggled, "Not much really I just saw that you were trying to study but you kept getting interrupted so I thought I'd give you an excuse to move," she paused. "Don't get me wrong," she held her hands up, "If you were ok with it feel free to go back I don't mind."

Remus stared for a moment and then gave shy but very sweet smile, "Actually it's probably better that I do my work here. I share a dorm with those three as well as a common room. The only other place I can study is the Library because they avoid that place like it's a lepur's collony."

Lily laughed and nodded her head, "That is exactly what I expected them to be like."

Remus and Lily chatted for another minute until the professor heard and shushed them. The two studious first years put their heads down and started working again and every now and then Lily asked Remus a defense question or Remus asked Lily one about potions. The red head tried to get Snape involved in the discussions a couple of times but the dark haired boy just sneered at Remus and went back to his own work.

Harry liked seeing his mother and Remus so close, they had similar personalities and he remembered Lupin telling him that his mother was always there for him and could see the beauty in him when he couldn't see it in himself.

When it was nearly time to go back to the common room Sirius, James and Peter walked over to Remus and Lily, and James said, "You finished, we're going back to the common room."

"Yeah, I'm coming too. Thanks for you're help Lily. Do you get what I was telling you about the knockback jinx?"

"Yeah, thanks for that. See you later."

Remus packed his books away and was walking behind his friends when he paused and looked at The Daily Prophet crossword Snape was working on. Snape seemed to be stuck on a couple. "Hinkypunk," said Remus. Snape looked up at him, confused. "Your crossword. 12 down 9 letters, misleader; Hinkypunk."

Snape's glare intensified, "I would have gotten Hinkypunk on my own."

"I have no doubt," Remus said genuinely. "Good night Lily, Severus."

Sirius and James smirked at Snape's expression, glad their friend had shown him up even if he didn't mean to. "Yeah, good night Snivellus," said James.

Harry shook his head at his father. He had learned something from this memory. All this time Harry had thought that Remus was an enemy by association but now he realised that just like he was jealous of James' talent on the quidditch pitch Snape was jealous of Remus' aptitude for Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was obvious when he remembered Percy telling him that Snape had been after the Defense Against the Dark Arts post for years at Hogwarts. James was Snape's arch rival but now realised that Snape resented Remus for more than just his association with his father and his ... condition.

That was actually a rather nice thought, it meant that Snape was petty not cruel.


	5. Creature

Exploring seemed to be the favourite pass time of all the Marauders and Hogwarts was the best place for curious young minds to explore. James always leader of their expeditions; he along with Sirius and Peter were often disappointed by Remus' absences every now and then. It seemed that a lot of the time when it was a perfect night for sneaking out of the dorm, Remus had to go home and visit his sick mother.

Harry knew exactly what 'sick mother' meant but he couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for the others to figure it out. They were in the midst of their second year so it couldn't be long now. The lightening scarred man watch as Sirius stood on the edge of the dark forest with James and Peter standing right behind him.

"Remus should really be here, he's missing all the fun."

Peter squeaked from behind the dark haired boy, "You really think this is fun."

Sirius turned around and faced the plump boy and grabbed the sleeve of his robes, pulling him into the trees, "Come on you big girl."

Harry wondered why this was a memory Sirius would place in his pensive but his answer was given as the three boys stopped as they thought they herd something. They were rather deep in the forest now and from experience Harry knew that it could be anything. Suddenly there was a very distinct rustle in the trees and the boys drew their wands. It was only a few seconds but it seemed like hours before a huge beast that looked half hairy half scaly came bounding out of the trees and headed straight for the three terrified boys. They all had their wands but none of them knew a spell that would work because they had no idea what in the hell the creature was.

Suddenly Sirius just lashed out with his arm and the wand got caught under the chin of the monster. To the relief of the three boys the monster dropped to the floor, they didn't take any time to watch it hit the ground they just turned around and ran back to their dorm. To their disappointment Remus wasn't back yet. He had gone to visit his mother yesterday night, surely he should be back by now.

Harry watched as the three Marauders just sat on their beds, they didn't seem to want to go to sleep they were probably too high on adrenaline. They didn't talk for a whole hour and the sun was already beginning to peak over the horizon. "What in the name of Merlin was that thing?" James half screamed, half whispered.

"You see," said Peter. "I told you we should have never gone down there."

"No this just means we should have paid more attention in defence," muttered James.

Sirius chuckled, "Ok you need to stop listening to Remus' lecturing. He's actually starting to get to you and besides, I'm pretty sure Professor Pendragon has never talked about ... whatever that thing was."

The three boys talked about the creature, debating what it might be until the sun came up and they decided to get down early for breakfast. They were still having their debate when they spotted Remus in their usual spot at the breakfast table. He looked a little ill but not as much as did before he left. Harry was surprised that that didn't puzzle the boys (or maybe it did and they just weren't saying anything). After all it was Remus' mother that was meant to be sick not him.

"Remus," James exclaimed loudly and the smaller boy jumped. Harry thought that he probably wasn't expecting to see his friends at breakfast this early.

His suspicions were confirmed when Remus said, "What are you guys doing at this time?"

"That's actually a funny story," said Sirius.

"How is you mum?" asked Peter in an uncertain tone.

Remus smiled at him, "Ok for now thanks."

Harry couldn't help but notice the glint of guilt in his favourite teacher's eyes. He listened to his father, Sirius and Peter tell Remus all about their escapade the night before and just before he could chastise them they asked him to come out and look at the creature before class if it was still there.

Remus' first reaction was, "Are you kidding?"

"Come on," said Sirius. "Class doesn't start for ages yet. We can be there and make it to Charms in plenty of time."

Remus looked like he was going to argue but then sighed and swallowed the rest of his pumpkin juice. "Ok but let's make it quick."

The marauders, all four this time, walked out of the castle and masterfully managed to stay out of the way of any teachers or prefects. Low and behold, the creature was still there lying unconscious under a tree. Remus put both his hands on the tree and looked down. "Wow, how did you guys knock him out?"

"Sirius lashed out with his wand and caught him under the chin," said James. "I don't know what happened but it just fell to the ground."

Harry smiled as he remembered his godfather telling him how Remus always use to call creatures in Defence Against the Dark arts him or her instead of 'it'. As his student Harry had remembered that that was very true. Remus never said 'it' when he was talking about a creature in his lessons.

"You managed to knock out a Morbus. That's ... pretty impressive Sirius."

"A what?" Sirius asked.

"A Morbus. Old legends say that it was a creature born of a wolf and a dragon. I thought they were suppose to be extinct." Just then the creature moved and everyone jumped back except Remus. "How long ago did you knock him out?"

"Uh," thought James. "It has to be a good few hours."

"He should be waking up soon," said Remus nonchalantly. "Do any of you have any citrus fruits or something like that on you."

Peter delved into his robes, "I have an orange I took at breakfast."

James and Sirius were about to say something in a teasing fashion when Remus said, "That's perfect Pete, give it here."

He took the orange and squeezed the juice over the Morbus' face. "That should keep him out for a while, acid makes creatures like him sleepy and when he wakes he'll want something juicy like pumpkins or something like that so he will probably head straight to Hagrid's place. He'll know what to do with him. It's pretty cool how you knocked this guy out Sirius. There's really only two ways. One is a spell that I don't think we'll learn until fourth year or you can jam something under their chin."

"What does that do?" asked Peter.

"They doesn't have anything protecting their brains from that angle so you just cut off the brain's commands to the body for a while."

"How do you know all this?" asked Sirius.

"My dad, he was a real defence maniac. He taught me all about this so that by the time I was seven I could rhyme off the names and attributes of every creature capable of coming within a hundred miles of our house. He was very paranoid." Harry knew Remus wasn't bothering to tell them why but the man knew Remus' father had more than enough reasons to be paranoid and did well by Remus through teaching him.

From the conversations Harry had heard during his time in this pensive he had discovered that Remus had been a very beloved child, sheltered and doted on by his parents and that more than anything was something to be thankful for. It was probably what helped the werewolf keep his faith right up to the end.


	6. Matters

_Hi everyone and thank-you for being so patient waiting for the next chapter but I have some bad news. This chapter was meant to be the other three marauder_s _find out about Remus but no matter how many times I tried I just couldn't seem to get it right so I just skipped to this chapter this is one I have had tucked away and ready written for a while and I just wanted to get it out there. I might write the aforementioned chapter one day but I was wasting too much time trying to get it right so enjoy this one._

Harry remembered his third year at school very clearly because it was the year he had found out the truth about his parents deaths and also when he had met two of his father's best friends. Two people who were still in his thoughts to this day.

This memory appeared to be the start of the Marauders' third year as the four of them were just now entering their dormitory and throwing there cases next to their beds. James was the first to speak, "Oh it's good to be back isn't it."

Sirius opened his trunk and started taking things out and throwing them onto his bed. "Too right," he replied excited. "I have so many great ideas for what we can do this year."

James looked highly interested and so did Peter, Remus however just smiled and shook his head, "We can hear all about them later but I don't want us getting detention before we've even unpacked."

James laughed joyously, the way he only did when Sirius, Remus or Peter said something funny. "I hear that Moony. Let's let everyone get settled in before we unsettle them."

Remus turned and gave James a small smile that was hardly a quirk of his lips. "Are you ever going to stop calling me that."

"No," James and Sirius replied simultaneously and Harry couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him.

It didn't take long for the four boys to unpack. James lit the fire when Peter started complaining of the cold and Remus walked over to it to warm up his hands slightly. Sirius finished his unpacking by putting a couple of fictional wizard books on the table next to the fire. Harry recognised some of the authors but he never held them in high acclaim. Remus stopping rubbing his hands together as Sirius walked back to his bed and the young werewolf stared at one of the covers. Harry peered closer to see which book his former/future teacher was looking at and his body became stiff. 'The Adventures of Morgan Hunter' and on the cover was a picture of a large werewolf and a man chasing after it. Harry frowned slightly, he knew Sirius could be a bit insensitive but this was just plain disregard.

Peter was the first to see that Remus' attention had been captured and watched as the latter picked up the book, opened it and began walking over to his bed where he sat down and started to read. James and Sirius hadn't noticed anything since they were talking through their plans for the Hogsmeade visits they got to go on this year. Peter walked over to the side of the room where they were having their discussion and heard Sirius say, "I think if we need to get away from the teachers we should go into the Shrieking Shack. We're the only pupils who know about the passage."

Peter joined in the conversation. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"It's just common sense," he pointed in the direction of Lupin and dropped his voice into a hissing whisper, "and my common sense is telling me we shouldn't be bringing books about dark creatures into the dormitory with an impressionable werewolf."

James turned in the direction Peter had pointed towards and saw the book in Remus' hand, he frowned. "Remus," he said in a commanding tone. "Don't read that."

When Lupin didn't put the book down Harry watched as his father marched across the dormitory and grabbed the book out of Remus' hand. "No sense upsetting yourself over nonsense like this."

Lupin rose to his knees on the bed. "I won't ..."

But he was interrupted, "I said, no," he emphasised the word 'no' as if his decision was final. "There's a whole library full of books at Hogwarts you can read. Steer clear of this rubbish," and with that James threw the book on the fire. Sirius looked like he was going to say something at that but the warning look James threw him was enough to keep him quiet ... for the moment anyway. "In fact we should all steer clear of it. It's not worth our time."

The dormitory was quiet for a while until Lupin got up to use the bathroom. Sirius saw this as an opportunity to avenge his book. "You didn't need to throw it on the fire James."

James' face was immovable, "You should never have brought it here in the first place. I don't see why you would even want to read it."

"Because I enjoy them," Sirius clearly didn't get the message that James thought he was wrong to even _want_ to read a book that insulted their friend.

"They're not important they're just fiction," James replied soberly but it was clear he was losing his patience.

"Well if they're just fiction why does it matter?"

"Because it matters to Remus!" James' head snapped around to look at Sirius and Harry saw that the message finally sunk in. Sirius turned his eyes to look at the floor and that more than anything was an admission that he had screwed up. They didn't say another word on the subject the whole night but Harry smiled when he saw his godfather take the books off of the table and throw them into the fire while the rest of the Marauders were asleep.


End file.
